Methodology and methodolatry: Creativity and the impoverishment of the imagination in sociology

These days, when someone remarks that you are ''being creative with the evidence,'' an insult may be intended. This paper begins by arguing that Sociology contains a tension between a reification of conventional research strategies (with little space for creativity), and a deification of certain sociologists who were creative and interpretive and who warned against the dangers of methodolatry. The paper goes on to discuss several structural and individual impediments to creativity, and ends with examples of how some of these limitations might be overcome by altering the goals of research and the role of researchers.